Hein ([info]fub) wrote in [info]geocaching,
2008-04-25 20:39:00
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Uploading waypoints to Garmin USB units from Ubuntu

I run Ubuntu Linux on my home computer, and I have a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx GPS receiver. I tried using gpsbabel to upload waypoints to the GPS receiver. I never got it to work reliably -- the connection would be dropped halfway, giving only partial uploads. Downloading tracklogs always worked flawlessly, though.

After my seamless upgrade from Feisty to Gutsy, I decided to delve into this a bit further. I noticed that the version of gpsbabel in the Ubuntu repositories is 1.3.3, while 1.3.4 has been out for well over half a year now. Time to do a source install, and to twiddle with the various settings to try and get the upload working as well.
The fact that I think this warrants a post, should tell you that I succeeded. I'm well aware that not everyone will be interested in this, so I present my solution here in full:

- Use Synaptic to completely remove gpsbabel;
- Install various support libraries that will be used in the source build. Execute "sudo apt-get install expat libexpat-dev libusb-dev";
- Download the source from the download page. I didn't use the source RPM, I just downloaded the source tarball;
- Uncompress the tarball. Execute "tar -xvzf gpsbabel-1.3.4.tar.gx";
- Go into the directory: "cd gpsbabel-1.3.4";
- Generate the makefile: "./configure";
- Build the application: "make";
- Install the application in your path: "sudo make install";
- After that, I followed the instructions for removing the garmin_gps kernel module and allowing non-root users to write to USB devices with the instructions for Dapper posted here.

Now I can upload a GPX-file with the command
"gpsbabel -r -t -w -i gpx -f pipco.gpx -o garmin -F USB:"
and it will reliably upload all waypoints to my GPSr!

This was one of the two things that I still needed Windows for in my every-day computer usage. You can imagine that I am quite happy I got to eliminate that!

As an aside, gpsbabel is also an interesting application for users of Windows and MacOS, since it enables you to merge and translate the GPX-files that you can download from geocaching.com into KML files that you can open in Google Earth, and much more.

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  • 12 comments

[info]zewrestler

April 28 2008, 05:40:48 UTC 4 years ago

Funny enough, I've been looking into programs that I can use as a GPS manager for my Ubuntu System. I'll have to look into that solution.

I am however interested in something that'd show a visual map the way points on that of that as well. This def sounds good though.

[info]fub

April 28 2008, 05:51:11 UTC 4 years ago

gpsbabel doesn't do anything beyond getting the waypoints and track information out of the GPS into a file. It doesn't have a database, and doesn't show waypoints on a map.
However, you can convert the track into KML with gpsbabel, and then use Google Earth to show the tracks and waypoints. Not really a database either, but at least you can see which track goes where...

[info]zewrestler

April 29 2008, 05:48:16 UTC 4 years ago

stupid question, is there a port of the gui interface for GPSBabel on Ubuntu. If so, what's it called?

[info]fub

April 29 2008, 16:25:11 UTC 4 years ago

It's called "gpsbabelgui", and it's built when you build from source. It's not much of a GUI, but hey.

[info]zewrestler

May 2 2008, 17:54:55 UTC 4 years ago

i've toyed around with your instructions a bit. the gui here is worse than the windows equivalent. its also called "guibabel"

now, i've just got to figure out how to get it to write to my device. thanks for the tips so far.

[info]fub

May 2 2008, 18:23:01 UTC 4 years ago

the gui here is worse than the windows equivalent.
Agreed: it is a monstrosity.

i've just got to figure out how to get it to write to my device.
Which device do you have? How do you connect it to your PC?

[info]zewrestler

May 2 2008, 18:27:00 UTC 4 years ago

garmin etrex legend connected through USB to Serial cable

[info]fub

May 2 2008, 18:37:19 UTC 4 years ago

Such a cable will likely register as a serial port under /dev/ttyUSB0 or something similar. Plug it in and see if such a device appears. If not, you have to search around for how to install such a device in Ubuntu.
Then, your GPSBabel commandline will be something like this:
gpsbabel -r -t -w -i gpx -f pipco.gpx -o garmin -F /dev/ttyUSB0

That should do it!

[info]zewrestler

May 15 2008, 17:03:06 UTC 4 years ago

I've had to reformat the computer I put gpsbabel again.

I've tried reusing these directions to reinstall the program. however, after I type Make, i get the following message.

gpsbabel-1.3.5$ make
autoconf
make: autoconf: Command not found
make: *** [configure] Error 127


Any idea why the autoconf is not working?

[info]zewrestler

May 15 2008, 18:13:03 UTC 4 years ago

nevermind, i had to apt-get the autoconf

[info]0ccam

April 29 2008, 19:06:36 UTC 4 years ago

Yes. It's the communication engine behind many pieces of software, like GSAK and MacCaching.

Interestingly though, Garmin's software doesn't use it.

Anonymous

October 4 2008, 09:47:58 UTC 3 years ago

gpsbabel GUI

There is also another "easy to use" GUI for gpsbabel: it's called gebabbel (german slang for talking)
You can find the binary at sourceforge: http://gebabbel.sourceforge.net/

Its a QT-Frontend directly running under Ubuntu 8.04. It works for me with my Extrex Legend HCx.
Make sure you have the garmin_usb Module in the kernel and have edited the right usb-Port (in my Case /dev/ttyUSB0.
Best way is to add the entry garmin_usb in /etc/modules , so ubuntu knows your Garmin out of the box.
dmesg will show you the right usb-port.

Have fun!


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